Highlights
Anindita Ghose’s debut novel, 'The Illuminated' follows the lives of two women- Shashi and Tara. Mother and daughter, Shashi and Tara are the protagonists of Ghose’s novel who tread through life after losing the ‘man of their lives’- Shashi’s celebrated husband and Tara’s father Robi Mallick.
When Robi Mallick passes away, his wife, a former academician who gave up her career for her domestic life now deals with his loss and her grief as she ponders upon the positions that women are put in whereas men go on living their lives without regrets or being subjected to judgements. The spatial changes in Shashi’s life symbolize the metaphorical phases that she has been through to reach where she is today. Her daughter, Tara, is a scholar of Sanskrit at the University of Mysore and is involved with a visiting faculty member who is much older than her. Reluctantly but inevitably being subjected to judgements for her relationship with an older man, Tara and her choices are censured by the society whereas the man is revered for his academic calibre and designation.
The novel is divided into parts that have lunar nomenclature, including the protagonist Shashi’s name, reaffirming the theme of illumination and shedding light on things that exist. The mother-daughter duo share a story at the end of which they emerge victorious over social elements and structures that restrict them but allow men to ‘spill’. In her debut novel itself, Anindita Ghose achieves what she seeks to achieve and how!
